Proofreader: DreaMing
“Sister!”
“W-What?!”
As Cloud hugged her tightly, Adreana was left looking a little embarrassed.
‘..I wasn’t expecting this kind of reaction.’
She had guesses. Either he won't believe in whatever she said and rebuke her words as nonsensical lies.
Or, he will show his anger to why had they forsaken him and his mother until now.
Or, in a moment of surprise, might squeal from having his status elevated from a mere moner to a nobleman.
It was going to be one of the three, at least she had thought so.
This was because all those who have appeared identifying themselves as the illegitimate children of Salierre family until now have been like that.
But Cloud jubilantly shouted "sister" and hugged her dearly.
It was as if he had met a family member from whom he had been seperated for ages.
Adreana felt a little absurd.
She hadn't even talked with him in her entire life, leave alone having close contact, why did he react so thrilled?
‘No, more than that…’
He was too close!
He's a man who until recently she thought to be a stranger, let alone sharing same blood. He shouldn't be so happy to brotherly hug her all of a sudden.
Adreana pushed Cloud away.
“Ah… I’m sorry, sister. I was so elated by knowing that I have a family out there, that I reacted so ungainly.”
Cloud apologized to Adreana with a sorry expression.
Adreana helplessly chuckled in her heart.
“You acted like you were going to murder me and all because I interrupted your sweet dreams, why being so gentle now?”
“But of course, you are my sister.”
“To be exact, half-sister.”
“Does it matter? The important fact is that I have a family again.”
Cloud smiled brightly and then got into recounting his past.
From an early age, he was persecuted by the villagers for being fatherless. As if that was not enough, his mother suddenly fell grievously ill, and shortly before her death, he left with the pommel she dearly cherished.
Having faced her numerous half-brothers, it was a damn repertoire for Adreana.
However, the past Cloud spoke about and to which she was currently listening did not feel boring.
Although it was anything but interesting, she attentively listened to him and, to a lesser extent, empathized with him.
She also frowned when he told how he was mistreated by the villagers in numerous ways.
She had a reason why she took Cloud's life story seriously, unlike when Adreana nonchalantly dismissed her other half-brothers.
It's because she saw the pure, childish joy Cloud showed on his face—facing the revelation that she was his elder sister.
All of her half-brothers she had ever got to meet had seen her and the Salierre family as a tool to change their own life.
It also meant that they did not have pure emotions like Cloud. Therefore, she was moved by the pure heart of her half-brother whom she was officially getting to know for the first time.
By the time his recount got finished, Adreana's wall of psychological distance from Cloud had diminished considerably.
“It must have had been very difficult,” she pitied. "Sorry for leaving you alone for so long. In the future, this sister of yours will take care of you.”
"Thanks, sis. Then, can I ask you a favour?”
"…a favour?"
Adreana's brow twitched.
No, maybe he's the same as her other half-brothers in the end?
Fortunately, her worries were for naught.
“As you already know, I don’t get along very well with Gis, right? So, can you let me know in advance if Gis ever has the intention to harm me or my party members in future?”
Cloud's request seemed very natural.
Adreana happily nodded her head in assurance.
Of course she would, but there was calculation behind it.
‘It would be better to build a bridge of trust by informing him once or twice.’
Just because her sense of psychological distance has diminished a bit didn't mean she had forgotten her original purpose. She was not an idiot.
Moreover, if she informs him once or twice and wins his plete trust, it would be easier to use him.
After having a little more conversation, Adreana prepared to take her leave.
“Go back carefully, sister."
“I will. Sorry for distributing you in the middle of your sleep. And about what happened today…”
“It's our secret, right? Don't worry, I will keep it to myself.”
"Good. And, thank you."
Adreana left the tent only after urging him several times to keep it a secret that he was her half-brother.
Cloud stared at Adreana's back until she pletely left his sight.
‘It will be useful for once or twice.’
Hopefully, she would be able to inform him in advance if Gis ever sent an assassin of the Zarakh Society on his back.
Cloud yawned and crawled back into the cozy bed.
* * *
It had been about three weeks since I arrived at the camp.
I got Randolph's call and headed to his barrack. As soon as I entered the barrack, I found a familiar face.
“Cloud, long time no see.”
It was Frillite.
Dressed in a silver-white armor, she smiled and held out her hand to me.
I took that hand.
"Same. Good to see you after all these few months. How have you been?”
“Days have been not much different from usual.”
“What have you been doing?”
To my question, Frillite put her arms around her chest and started looking back into her memory lane as she recalled.
“After I parted with you, I headed straight for the eastern region of the Empire. As reported, the evil god's apostle was bewitching the citizens. I killed the garbage and helped in purifying the citizens polluted by the evil god. Since then, I was busy doing little things here and there, such as capturing the leaders of the Revolutionary Army and executing a cabal of warlocks along with the church for tampering with some forbidden magic.”
Frillite spit out what she had been doing, as if it was just normal happenstance in her daily life.
She has been working hard.
“What have you been doing all this time?”
"Me? I was exploring a small dungeon.”
“A dungeon exploration, uh? That's interesting. What reward did you get?”
“Uh… nothing really great. As I said earlier, it was a small dungeon.”
I can't just say that it's a medicinal herb to make my PP grow in size.
“Heh. That’s what can be expected from a poor ass like you.”
Gis, who stood opposite to Frillite and me, smirked deviously. He had entered the barrack while I was talking to Frillite.
I smiled amicably and responded with a gesture of thrusting my thumb between my index and middle fingers.
Of course. Gis, well aware of the meaning of my gesture, yanked out his chain scythe—his face livid green.
"You motherf**king bastard!"
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